Another German supermarket chain aims for quick Australian entry

German discount supermarket chain Lidl looks to be making solid moves to enter the Australian market soon.

German discount supermarket chain Lidl looks to be making solid moves to enter the Australian market soon.

Lidl is currently in the process of reserving the rights to several product names and is looking at its Australian logistics options according to unnamed corporate and supply chain sources.

No announcements have been officially made by the supermarket itself.

The story to date: Lidl

Lidl had its start in 1930 and is often compared to fellow German chain Aldi.

The supermarket has a large presence in Europe and was named by Deloitte as the fourth largest retailer in the world last year. It was recently named Grocer of the Year at the Grocer’s Gold Awards in London.

Lidl is privately owned and has 9 800 stores across 28 European countries. Australia will be one of its first areas of presence outside of Australia. The supermarket is expected to open in Lithuania and Serbia this year and is rumoured to be opening in the US by 2018, followed by plans to enter Russia.

The chain opened in the UK in 1994 and owns a five per cent share of the country’s supermarket industry.

Relationship to Aldi

Lidl is very similar to Aldi in many aspects, especially store appearance. The chain displays stock on pallets so they can be moved in quickly. Non-food items are sold, plenty of in-house brands are on offer and only a small handful of staff work at each store in expenditure cutting attempts.

Since 2012 all Lindl stores have had bakeries which make and sell fresh baked products.

Lidl also sources locally made products in all of its markets, including house brands.

Is Lidl a threat to the Australian supermarket industry?

Aldi’s move into Australia was a big game changer with the supermarket currently reputed to have 10.3 per cent of the market share on the east coast. Aldi is currently in the process of implementing its expansion into South Australia and Western Australia.

There is a big chance Lidl will come in and take a significant slice out of the Australian supermarket pie, competition wars are sure to heat up further as a result.